The Devil Take You
by Uncle Charlie
Summary: Sapphire and Steel go devil hunting in the 'wilds' of turn of the century New Jersey.


He crouched in the bushes, hoping that the darkness would hide him, mask his scent from the creature. Above he could hear flapping, that awful flapping and a low guttural cry. He peered out from his place among the detritus and branches and saw it – it was about three feet tall with a head like a horse and great sweeping wings. It hopped rather than walked on its back legs around a huddled, whimpering, black lump on the road.

_Toby, oh my God, it has Toby! _ That realization gave him sudden courage and he burst from the bushes screaming and yelling.

The creature hopped back, alarmed, then leaned forward and growled over its prize. He grabbed a rock and threw it as hard as he could and the creature became airborne, screeching and wailing. Instantly, he ran to Toby's side and scooped the puppy up, holding the animal close to his chest.

Then he ran, as fast as he could, to the closest house that would have him.

Marcus Black had been a farmer in these parts for a long time. His family put down stakes in New Jersey when it was still a colony. He'd watched the small village grow into a thriving town. There was talk of even putting in electric street lights on Main Street. Electric lights! Imagine that. Marcus Black was a man centered in the here and now. He had no time for flights of fantasy, storytelling or games of 'What if?' He saw the world in black and white, right down to his Holstein cows. Reality was enough for him.

He and his wife, still lovely and the best thing he'd ever achieved, were sitting by the fireplace, reading their Bibles when a frantic pounding on his front door brought him to his feet. While they were on the outskirts of town, they were still far enough away to invite mischief now and again.

He pushed his wife into the bedroom, grabbed his deer rifle, and went to the door.

"Who is it?"

"Mr. Black, it's me, Nelson, please help me!"

Nelson, the young man down the road a piece, he'd helped with the haying this past summer. A bit of a talker, but still a good worker, so Marcus opened the door and the boy stumbled in.

"Shut it, shut it fast," he shouted as he ran towards the fire and laid something down on the floor.

Marcus did as he was bade and went to the boy's side. He was bending over a dog, its side glistening wet with blood. "What happened?"

"We were attacked. Toby tried to chase it off." At the sound of his name, the dog lifted his head and whimpered, then he began to growl low and menacingly. Nelson pulled his hand back, then there was a screech from the bedroom.

Marcus was there in three bounding strides, pushing the door open to stare open mouthed at the thing beating against the window, vainly trying to get in. It shrieked and writhed and scratched.

"Go on, get out," Marcus shouted, lifting his rifle. It seemed to recognize that the battle was over and it flapped away.

"What was it Marcus? What in the name of all that is holy was that?" Then his wife looked wildly at the roof as the creature bounced, thumping and bumping, across the roof. It was a solid roof, he knew that. No way in.

There was a final horrific shriek and then nothing but the sobbing of his wife, the soft whispering of Nelson to his dog. Then there was a knock on the door.

_ALL IRREGULARITIES WILL BE HANDLED BY THE FORCES CONTROLLING EACH DIMENSION; TRANSURANIC HEAVY METAL MAY NOT BY USED WHERRE THERE IS LIFE. MEDIUM ATOMIC WEIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE: GOLD, LEAD, COPPER, JET, DIAMOND, RADIUM, SAPPHIRE, SILVER AND STEEL. SAPPHIRE AND STEEL HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED."_

Marcus Black stared at the door for a long moment. Then he gathered himself up and walked to it.

"Yes?"

"Marcus Black."

The voice was strangely accented, but hard and cold. A strong, no nonsense voice like his own, but not from around here.

"What do you want?"

"For you to open the door. That should be obvious even to a simple man like you."

Marcus bristled at that and yanked the door open. A man and a woman were standing there. He was wearing a dark gray three piece suit, not unheard of for the time, but certainly not something that was usual dress at this time of night or out here. The woman was wearing what Marcus would deem a party dress, blue, almost gray, the lines long and flowing. Neither person wore a coat, which was odd considering how cold it was outside. Marcus looked behind them, into the night. There was no carriage, not even one of them newfangled horseless buggies.

It was February and it had been a cold but curiously snow free winter. Everything was brittle and hard and yet these two stood at his door as if it was a pleasant summer evening.

"You will have to excuse my friend, Mr. Black." The woman's voice had the same sort of odd accent, but hers was strangely musical while his just seemed menacing. "May we come in?"

"Who are you?" He shifted his attention back to the man.

"You are Marcus Black. Your wife's name is Martha. You have been married ten years, your only child died in a cholera epidemic." The man pushed in, past his companion, seemingly oblivious of good manners. He glanced around the small living room and then over at the fire and the boy crouched there.

"And again, I must ask you to excuse my companion. We're travelers in these parts." The woman laughed, a light tinkling glass on glass sound, as she held out a slender hand. "I am Sapphire; he is Steel. I believe you had some trouble this evening."

"It was the Devil," Nelson muttered, stroking the dog's head gently. The animal cringed back at Steel's touch, then licked his hand tentatively. Steel made a face and pulled a handkerchief out to wipe his hand.

"The devil? In New Jersey?" he said, grimly. "That's hardly likely."

_Don't scoff, Steel. These people are simple; they tend to have a rather simplistic interpretation of events._

_I've heard these things referred to as many different things, but not as devils. And why are we being sent out on something like this? I feel like a glorified dog catcher._

_That's a rather charming image you conjure. It is our turn and besides, the last one liked you._

Steel's blue eyes grew dark and he looked back down at the animal. _Can you read this creature?_

Sapphire's smile grew. _This creature is a dog and yes, I should think so. _

_That's what they call a dog here?_

_Yes, it is, and they can be lovely pets._

_It would go a long way in explaining a great many things. What did it see, Sapphire?_

She knelt down and caressed the dog's head and rubbed an ear, her eyes glowing a brilliant blue. Then she stiffened and gasped, instinctively bring a hand to her breast to protect herself.

_What did it see? Sapphire?_ Steel mentally shouted as she fell back and he caught her.

"What's wrong with your missus?" Marcus asked, still holding his weapon. There was something about these two…

"Nothing," Sapphire said after a moment. "The images are crude, but it's what we're looking for, Steel. Oh dear," she murmured, setting a slender hand on Steel's arm.

"What's wrong?" Steel followed her gaze and shook his head as Marcus aimed the weapon at them. "Put it away, you are more likely to hurt yourself than either one of us."

"Who are you?" The man simply held the gun more firmly. "You show up here just as that… that abomination shows itself… you say you're travelers, but you have no baggage, no means of transport." He looked from one to the other. "Yes, I'm a simple man, but I'm also the one holding the gun." He gestured towards the door. "Now talk or you kin go back out. Who are you?"

"The dog catchers." Steel looked to the boy, who had taken the animal into his arms.

"This wasn't Toby's fault. He's a good boy. He saved me."

Sapphire smiled and reached out a hand to caress Nelson's face. "Oh, Steel doesn't catch dogs; he catches nightmares. He catches them and tucks them safely away where they can't bother anyone." Outwardly it looked as if she was comforting the boy, but in reality…

_He saw the Horluck as well._

_His interpretation?_

_A demon._

_Close enough._ Steel suddenly moved and caught the deer rifle by the barrel. He didn't try to wrestle it from the man's grasp. For some reason, humans always felt safer holding one of these things. He merely pinched the end of the barrel closed. "There. Now we are all safe from your stupidity."

Marcus went very white, then very red as anger bubbled over. "You little bastard, how do I protect my family now?" He didn't usually anger, if only because his temper was formidable once unleashed. He pulled his fist back to punch this strange threat. Steel merely caught and held the fist in midflight.

"Violence is not the answer. It is never the answer." He glared at the farmer until the man backed away. "We are here to help. Tell him, Sapphire, explain it to him." _And I am not little!_

_No ,on that I can reassure you – nothing about you is small, Steel. _She was used to placating him and paving their way with humans. "We come from a foreign country over a great distance to retrieve your devils. You see, they aren't monsters, but rather creatures from our home. This one has… lost his way. A few have over the years and we've always been sent to take them back."

"Why?" It was the first time the woman, Martha, had spoken and Sapphire smiled at her.

"Because it doesn't belong here anymore than we do. If we were to leave it here, it might do things, alter paths that must not be changed."

"And where is this place that women speak so free and men let them?"

There was a noise above their head and they all looked up. "If you want to stop her, be my guest. I have other things to do." _ Why is it still here, Sapphire?_

_It's hungry. It wants its supper._

Steel's eyes moved to the dog. _Then I'll give it to him._

_You can't._

_Why not?_

_Well first, that would be inhumane, even for you. And second, that dog plays a very important part in that young man's life. Remove the animal and you alter time._

_I wonder if that's why it's here to begin with. Just one more trick, one more dirty little sneaking try._

_Life would be very boring for us if it was to stop… besides, you don't need the dog to lure it in, just the animal's blood. That's what it's smelling._

_Then that's what I want. _Steel pulled his handkerchief out and handed it to her. "Clean the animal up, Sapphire."

She bowed her head and smiled almost secretively. Sapphire knelt beside the dog and patted its head again. Toby whimpered as she started to clean his side. "Talk to him, Nelson."

"How did you know my name? Or any of our names?" Nelson, in spite of his fear, couldn't stop his curiosity.

"We were told." Sapphire looked over to Martha. "Might I have some water please?"

"Martha…"

"Oh, hush, Marcus, these people mean no harm." She offered a glass to Sapphire. She in turn poured it onto the handkerchief and carefully cleaned the young dog's side.

"Indeed we don't," Sapphire said as she worked. "We shall be on our way very shortly. As soon as we obtain what we came after."

"And what would that be, Missus?"

Sapphire stood and handed the soiled handkerchief to Steel, who made a face.

"Guess," he said as he looked back up at the ceiling and at the harsh half cough/half shrieking noise.

They walked down the corridor and Steel looked over at the sound of a long low whistle. Silver had been coming out of an assignment room, his partner, Diamond, in tow.

"The Powers That Be, Steel, what happened to you?"

Steel's suit was in shreds, his hair was matted with what he sincerely hoped was mud and what parts of him weren't smeared with filth were slick with blood, his blood. He didn't like bleeding, not one little bit.

"You were assigned, weren't you? To retrieve the Horluck?" No mystery there, it was one of the few things that could actually hurt them, and that was one of the big reasons why they all balked at this particular assignment.

Sapphire followed. She was holding one arm close to her breasts and her eyes had gone violet, a sure sign that she was not happy. "Yes, and I, for one, will be quite relieved when someone fixes that one particular glitch."

"What did you tell them this time?" Silver went to her side and slid his coat over her shoulders. It was an unnecessary gesture – they didn't feel heat or cold as a rule. He enjoyed the game of attempting to woo Sapphire away from Steel's side, something neither Steel nor Diamond appreciated.

"You restored it?" Diamond glared, but refocused her attention on Steel, falling into step beside him. Cool, clear-eyed, she was a good match for the agent and it had been everyone's surprise when Sapphire had been attached to him rather than she.

"Yes. And resealed the hole, for what good it will do." Steel kept his eyes forward. He had just one thought on his mind at the moment and that was to clean up.

"The last one lasted nearly thirty years," Silver said, not bothering to add that it was his patch-up job.

"Mine will last longer," Steel muttered.

"Several people saw this one, documenting it," Sapphire said, wearily. "There was no doubting its existence this time around."

"They need their superstitions, their beliefs in good and bad as a race. It allows them to continue and gives them an easy way to explain things away." Diamond smiled over at her. "They're stupid ,weak creatures."

"And capable of soaring to great heights."

Both Steel and Silver sighed and looked at each other, a momentary peace in their usual bickering.

"I think we'd best be on our way." Another jacket appeared on Silver's torso, a life jacket, the name _S. S. Titanic_ stenciled on it. He offered his elbow to Diamond who took it and they promptly vanished.

"One thousand five hundred and seventeen people will die in that." Sapphire looked over sadly at her partner. "And neither of them cares in the least. It's just one more assignment to them."

Steel smiled at her, gently, warmly, a smile he rarely offered to anyone but her. "You're just tired, Sapphire, and hurt." He brushed a strand of hair from her usually perfect face and slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her near. As much as he abhorred contact with the other Elementals, Sapphire was different. She was his partner, his strength and his weakness. "And as much as I savor this mussed version of you, I think you will feel better after some rest."

He guided her to her quarters and gently propelled her inside.

"Steel, I…"

_Yes Sapphire?_

She smiled tiredly at him. _You're right, I __**am**__ tired._

He saw her to bed, then sat nearby, quietly, ignorant of his own needs or comfort. He made sure nothing intruded on her sleep or her dreams. After all, he was the one who kept nightmares at bay and if he did it for strangers, then he mostly certainly would do it for the ones, no, **the** one he loved.


End file.
